Creating a Neurodivergent Accessible Home *Updated*

A while ago, I wrote a post about curating a neurodivergent home. We realized the standard way of living we were raised with or that we saw other people living simply didn't work for our family. We have come up with systems that DO work for our family. This post really resonated with a lot of people, but as time went on and our home and needs changed, I figured other people would like to see how things changed as our family and needs changed too. Here are our updated ways to make our neurodivergent home work for us.

Creating a Neurodivergent Accessible Home *Updated* | Making Spaces to Meet Your Kids Needs

We have lived in this house for over five years, and a lot of our spaces have fluctuated and changed based off of our needs at that point in time. My daughter's room has changed drastically over the last five years. This year we added cubbies and a desk to her already, very custom room with built in bookshelves and her custom house bed.

I've also removed things that I have created for her room in the past. She used to have a play kitchen in her room with a table and benches I built. When she outgrew it, we moved it to where my son can enjoy it and replaced it with a cozy reading space.

Updating a space doesn't necessarily don't require any kind of woodworking skills. You can add bookshelves or room dividers or just separate spaces in other unique ways. This is just something I'm able to do because I have the tools and enjoy doing it. Is it easier to change and move things in my daughter's room where things as opposed to my sons room where everything is built in? Yes, but I don't really have a problem with that because I think our family will outgrow this house before he outgrows his room, and if I do need to change something before then, I will do that. I don't have a problem with changing things to meet our needs. I've done it in stages all throughout our house and plan on doing more as the years go by.

Creating a Neurodivergent Accessible Home *Updated* | Have Visual Reminders and Accommodations Everywhere

Every person in my house either has an official neurodivergent diagnosis, like my husband, daughter and myself or is in the process of being diagnosed like my son. Visual reminders are a really big thing for us. Having things we can see and reference is essential for making our home run smoothly. I have gradually designed numerous visual aids I actually have available in the shop to in hopes that another family can benefit from them too.

Having the visual aids help my daughter to be more independent. For example, she can come down on a Saturday morning and want to play a video game, but the visual aids remind her what she needs to get done before she can do that.

Creating a Neurodivergent Accessible Home *Updated* | Have Sensory Inputs Always Available

I really try to rotate sensory input toys and have them readily available always. For example, I  have the spinning fish chair the kids love and it just kind of hangs out in our living room so they can get that input at any time. We also have a Nugget couch which they both use on a regular basis. We also recently got a giant crash pad in my son's room the kids can jump onto that they absolutely love. I also created a designated spot in his bedroom build for them to jump from which has been amazing for that gross motor play.

On the more adult side, my husband is a musician and he loves to play instruments and so we have so many different kinds of instruments all throughout our house because that's a really great sensory input for him.

Creating a Neurodivergent Accessible Home *Updated* | Keeping Safe Foods Easily Accessible

I try to make sure that my son has access to food throughout the day. If he and I are upstairs in his third floor bedroom, I will pack snack boxes so both of us have food to eat. Sometimes it is hard to remember to eat when you are hyper-focused on a project, so having these snack boxes for us has been a game changer. I make sure to have safe foods as well as new foods available He will try pretty much everything which is much different than our daughter who has ARFID which limits her diet substantially. When it comes to lunches for my daughter at school, I always send her a packed lunch even though her school provides lunches for all of the kids. This way I know she has safe foods available, and she is also welcome to try something new at school. For the most part, the stuff I send in her lunchbox is non-perishable so I can easily refill anything and nothing goes bad. In our pantry, I put bulk items that would easily be spilled by a toddler into clear containers he can reach so he can independently bring/show me what he wants to eat. I also make sure I keep everybody's favorite fruits and veggies available as much as I can so the decision making process is eliminated, making us much more likely to eat them.

Well, there you have it. Now you have a more extensive list of ways of how I create a more neurodivergent friendly home. Obviously not everybody is going to be able to build stuff the way I do or create stuff, but there are still so many ways you can make your space work for you. Like I said before, I have downloads for everything in the shop. Check it out and let me know how it works for you!